What olive-related object did the dove bring back to Noah in Genesis?

In Genesis, the dove brought Noah a freshly plucked olive leaf.

Genesis 8:11 says that the dove returned to the ark in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak. Noah understood this as evidence that the floodwaters had receded from the earth and that vegetation was again visible.

Popular language often calls the object an olive branch, and the olive branch later became a broad symbol of peace. The wording in Genesis is more specific: it describes a leaf, not an entire branch. That small distinction matters when the question asks for the object carried by the dove.

The dove had already been sent once and returned when it found no resting place. Noah sent it again seven days later, and after another seven days it did not return. The sequence marks the gradual transition from flood conditions to a dry and inhabitable earth.